with us now is jeff applegate. jeff, why do you think that congress is going to be able to come through with a deal on this fiscal cliff? >> the political calculus, susie, is very simple. at the end of the day, the physicafis -- fiscal cliff threatens to dip the economy back into a depression. so we think that's what will drive a deal. >> susie: the fiscal cliff is in headlines every single day. it probably will continue like this for the next six weeks. how is all of that anxiety going to play out in the markets? >> you've already seen it play out since the election. global equities, actually, were down more than 2%. we didn't have a great day again today. so getting a positive resolution on the fiscal cliff is going to be important for the markets, but it is going to be volatile, and it will not be sorted out soon. so i think you should count on near-term possibly increased volatility in equity markets. >> susie: but you still think that the markets will be up for the year for 2012? >> we do. and that's the view